Mr. Hwang's Store.

This is one of the only stores that I've documented which I'm a regular. I come here for several reasons. When I'm tired on my way from school, coming out from Granville Station, I purchase a bottle of coke to get my caffeine fix. When I'm coming home from work tired and stressed out, I buy a bag of chips and some magazine to get my mind off things for a while. I also randomly come here to get some orange juice after hanging out with some friends. I believe this store is very memorable for me as it is for the owners of this store. That is why the owner of this store, Mr. Hwuang, although a bit strong- headed, really fits into this store's image where the drunks and hobos often come to cause trouble without buying anything in particular.

He was also an owner I can connect to the most because I've known him for the longest time out of all the owners. His family, including his wife and his two daughters moved to Vancouver for a common reason which is to bring more opportunities for their daughters to enjoy their life. He did not care about how successful they would become because he did not want to give them more pressure. He wanted his children to feel more free. In Korea, the highschool students go to school till saturday and they take six courses per semester. After that, most of them would go to a learning center which is like a secondary courses for studying. So basically the students there go to two schools. It is a lot more harder for them to be accepted into the university with twice the population as it is in Canada which is roughly around sixty million people.

I believe his reasons compared to other convenience store owners is the one I can relate to the most. As a student in Korea I had to take on lots of more pressure than most of the people in my age group. I had moved to four different schools by the time I reached the 5th grade. My mom was an elementary teacher so I'd have to move to different school everytime she moved her job to schools farther away or close to home. Most of my childhood was controlled by adult's choices because when I moved schools it was because they wanted me closer to them. My grand parents and my mom, although I'm thankful for their support, I wished I didn't move to so many schools.

I believe my parents and Mr. Hwang relates the most because they've moved to Canada, not for the success of our adulthood, but for the wellness of their children's overall life.

Anyway, he used to be a Korean Air Pilot. He said he wants the best for his children because when he was growing up, he lived in poverty to the point where he couldn't afford to wear a uniform for highschool. In Korea, all the highschool guys have to cut their hair short and dress in uniforms unless it is a private owned schools. He started working at a factory where they make parts to build transportations such as cars and air planes. That's when he discovered his passion to fly air planes. He has travelled to different countries so he has many stories. He also said that the hardest thing about his job is dealing with the people who steal things from his store. When people steal, he knows that they do but he just lets them out for the people who steals because he knows what it is like when they can't afford to eat.

Mrs. Farhi's Store

Mrs. Farhi and Mr. Farhi works here at a convenience store in a tunnel that goes to Granville Skytrain station. It is also a convenience store I pass by almost in daily basis. This is an interesting store because I see a man and a woman working on different days taking turns working here. As I have noticed, the older man works here during the weekends and the middle aged woman works here during the week days most of the times. I could easily approach them because I see them regularly.

I had difficulties interviewing the couple because they could not speak much English and their strong accent reminded me of the time when I went to India for a while to visit one of my closest friend Jawid. I treated them just like I treated people from India which meant that I had to use my body as a way of communicating without much talking.

So, they moved here because they did not like how the country was ran, and said that it is more free and less strict here. They used to live a very unstable life financially. They used to own a farm and the government did not pay them enough for their labor so eventually they became fed up with the low payments and decided to move to Canada. They left their two young sons in India with their grand parents. They have two jobs each to pay for their education and food back in India to support their son. One day, they will bring their sons here and reunite the family. They very much miss their friends and family there but to support their family they needed to come here and work for more money.

Mr. Kang's Convenience Store

This is Mr. Kang's store right outside the bus stop which goes to False Creek. This convenience is very familiar... I have seen it almost everyday since I've been attending Emily Carr since almost two years ago. It will always be there so I thought it was time for me to find out who owns it. Mr. Kang is the owner. He comes out during the times I'm usually not coming to school or while I'm at school so it was challenging for me to interview him and find out about his situation and how he came here.

What is interesting about Mr. Kang is that he is the only man who came here without his wife coming along with him to live in Canada for their child's education. His wife still lives in Korea, working as a university professor there. It was very refreshing to see how it was the opposite of the previous familiies I've interviewed. The fact that the father of the family is not staying in the home country to work for financial purposes or passion was very surprising. Mr. Kang stressed that he did not have a particular job in Korea but his wife on the other hand had a great passion and interest as a biology professor in Korea. She has been teaching for nearly twenty five years moving to different universities in Seoul, the capital city of Korea.

For him, it was worth it to move to Vancouver with his son because now he attends University of Western Ontario and is in the Ivey League School for business which is far from what Mr. Kang expected from him. Not only that, it is important that he was accepted to the Ivey League after applying for three times. Mr. Kang said that he wanted to go back to Korea but had to be strong for his son. He said that it isn't hard for him to own a convenience store because he gives the other foreigners to start off their first jobs at his convenience stores and usually they work very hard to keep the job. He also states that it gives him more than enough income for the necessity. It really changed my perspective on the idea of keeping a convenience store because sometimes it could be less challenging when the convenience store has been established and has regulars coming in.

Mr Wong's Store.

Location: Downstairs of Lougheed Town Center Station near the bus station.

Mr.Wong is in his mid 50's and works full time with his wife. The store has a Sushi bar which is also ran by his son. At first Mr. Wong was hesitant to open up and talk about his story. He speaks limited English so I had to talk to him in Korean.

Mr. Wong moved here from Japan about ten years ago hoping for his daughter to have a better life. His daughter was having trouble with her disabilities when she got into an accident at home. He said she tripped in her home and her head hit the side of a table which was sharp. Unfortunately, she hit her right eye directly to the corner and had to get numerous surgeries and ended up having a fake eye after all. This relates to me because I am part of a Catholic community with many members and I hear people passing away and getting into many accidents almost every week I attend missals.

From her daughter's tragic incident, Mr. Wong owed many dept to people and could not pay back the money he borrowed from his friends and family. So he decided to move to Canada to take a break from the pressure of paying people back. He lost his job and the trust he gained from his friends and family. And so he works at a small convenience store. I see him everyday working every time I'm on my way to school.
Now I know the story behind the convenience store I see almost everyday.